Comedian set to perform free show for Fulton teenager
by Andrew Henderson

During his trip to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., Fulton teenager Zak Dievendorf received six weeks of intense radiation treatment and chemotherapy for an inoperable brain tumor.

During one particular two-hour MRI, Dievendorf watched the video of his favorite comedian, Tim Hawkins, to help distract and encourage him through the procedure.

This Friday, Dievendorf will not have to watch a video of Hawkins; he will be able watch him live and in person.

Hawkins, a nationally known Christian comedian, will be performing a free show Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. at the Fulton Alliance Church at the request of the Dievendorf family.

“One of the desires of my son during his illness is to meet Tim Hawkins, a Christian comedian that has been seen nationwide on ‘Bananas’ comedy shows as well as live performances,” wrote Dievendorf’s mother Jennifer, who is the director of the Pregnancy Care Center in Oswego, in a letter to local churches. His father is Fulton Police Lieutenant Timothy Dievendorf.

After contacting Hawkins, the Dievendorfs discovered that he was scheduled to perform a show in Geneseo. That show, however, was cancelled, opening a date for Dievendorf’s benefit.

“He has offered the opportunity to perform a show specifically for my son Zak,” said Mrs. Dievendorf. “Tim Hawkins has become a prayer partner to us through this journey and we look forward to meeting him in person.”

Hawkins’ art form was honed primarily in churches, with a brief six-month stint performing in prisons as part of Chuck Colson’s Prison Fellowship. Because his shows ranged from very young children to youth groups to married adults, he had to develop material appropriate for a wide age range.

“Survival mode, pure and simple,” he said on his web site. “I learned comedy in front of a lot of multi-generational audiences, so I had to find material that would cater to all ages. It’s a thrill to provide a family connection where they can share the experience… and then take a DVD home for another family comedy night. But really, I think my fans are probably just the same people who voted for Sanjaya.”

His “Full Range of Motion” concert DVD won the 2007 Crown Award for Best Comedy and has aired as a prime time special on Sky Angel, the NRB Network, and The Worship Network. He recently visited the Funny Bone Comedy Club in Columbus, Ohio, to film his second television special for the comedy series “Bananas,” winner of a Regional Emmy.

With four children of his own and a wife who is winning her battle with breast cancer, Hawkins says he gets new material daily from the perils of marriage and parenting.

Friday’s concert will benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

“We will be taking a free-will offering at the end to help raise funds to continue to find the cure for childhood cancer,” Mrs. Dievendorf said. “All of the proceeds from this show will go to St Jude Children’s Hospital. We will have representatives there the evening of the show to share a bit about St. Jude and the work they have done.”

Dievendorf is currently continuing chemotherapy on an outpatient basis. Mrs. Dievendorf outlined several statistics regarding cancer and children.

“Childhood cancers are the number-one disease killer of children—more than asthma, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, and pediatric AIDS combined,” she said.

According to statistics, one in every 330 children will develop cancer before the age of 19, and one out of every five children diagnosed with cancer dies. Three out of every five children diagnosed with cancer suffer from long-term or late onset side effects.
Approximately 12,500 children and adolescents in the U.S. are diagnosed with cancer each year.

On the average, one in every four elementary schools has a child with cancer and every high school in America has two students who are a current or former cancer patients. In the U.S., about 46 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer every school day—an equivalent of two entire classrooms.

While the cancer death rate has dropped more dramatically for children than for any other age group, 2,300 children and teenagers still die each year from cancer.

Currently, up to 75 percent of the children with cancer can be cured, yet some forms of childhood cancers have proven so resistant to treatment that, in spite of research, a cure is elusive.

Also, common cancer symptoms in children—fever, swollen glands, anemia, bruises, and infection—are often suspected to be, and at the early stages are treated as, other childhood illnesses.